24 11, 2017

Rainy View of Venice’s Grand Canal

By |November 24th, 2017|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

It was a rainy day in Venice and the Grand Canal was quiet due to the New Year's holiday. There was so much rain, Venice started to flood that day. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

9 10, 2017

Travel Missteps: Winter Fashion Failure

By |October 9th, 2017|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Today is the first snow in Colorado. I prefer to be warm over fashionable in winter. That means lots of layers and completely bundled up. The above photo was my look for Germany in 2011. But the further back I go I see more examples. For example, I sported this stunning blue look in Venice 2005. To be fair it was running and snowing on NYE, and so it was especially cold. However, my mother is always fabulously dressed, so I wonder where I get this... Oh yeah from Dad! He looked even more intimidating at night with his hood on. Also

6 01, 2017

Trevi Fountain at Night

By |January 6th, 2017|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

11 years ago today, on the Epiphany, I was standing in front of the Trevi Fountain on my last day in Italy. They say the first coin you throw in the fountain grants the wish that you will return to Rome. I'm still waiting on keeping that promise. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

19 12, 2016

Travel Missteps: Sinking Venice

By |December 19th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Visiting Italy in the off season had its benefits. Venice wasn't crowded on that New Years Eve. There weren't annoying pidgins accosting anyone. And since it wasn't hot, the lagoon water didn't smell.  But, I did find it odd that these weird tables were stacked all around the city. I wondered if it was for some New Years tradition that I wasn't aware of. But in the off season you have to deal with poor weather. I certainly got my money's worth out of my new rain boots and jacket. Here you can see St. Mark's Square! Except...the rain and

25 04, 2016

Travel Missteps: Minutes in Pompeii

By |April 25th, 2016|Categories: Photography, Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

I love ancient history, and have poured over history books and documentaries since I was a child. So when my family planned a trip to Italy, I knew I HAD to see Pompeii. I had been fascinated with this town ever since I saw a carbonized baked bread in a school book. The fact that life changed so suddenly and this town was erased from history in mere hours was shocking. But unfortunately I found out we'd only have a short amount of time at Pompeii, likely less than 30 minutes. Since I had just completed a semester on Italian Art

3 08, 2015

Travel Missteps: Negotiating a Discount

By |August 3rd, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Follow my blog with Bloglovin The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a gauntlet of gaudy souvenir hawkers and littered with people taking that same vacation snapshot. Neither of which is necessarily a bad thing. As long as you are aware of that going in, you’ll be fine. So after enjoying the lesser known Pisa Church and Baptistry my sister and I made our way out of the area when one of the many souvenir sellers called out to us, and his wares caught our eye. The Leaning Tower of Pisa He had fashion watches, jewelry, and knock off

8 06, 2015

Travel Missteps: The Expensive Scarf

By |June 8th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

My first morning in Italy I was so excited. I had a brand new DSLR Camera and I felt like a Pro photographer. I got up early and went into the piazza near our hotel. There was a local market going just getting ready for their first customers. I wandered through it, taking photos here and there. A festive fish stall My sister found me and we wandered towards the edge and found a woman selling pashmina scarves. It was late December and I realized I had forgotten yet again to bring a scarf for the cold weather.

5 01, 2015

Travel Missteps: La Befana

By |January 5th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Walking through Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy I hear the unmistakable cackling laugh of a witch! I turned towards a nearby stall and spy hundreds of flying witches hanging from the roof. Big ones, small ones. Some like an old woman, while others looked like a creepy old hag warts and all! Some even were animatronic whose eyes glowed red (and made the cackling laughter that caught my ear.) But surely this must be a mistake? For its not Halloween time, but after so soon after Christmas!  I was confused but had no one to ask about this strange sight,

8 02, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: My First Snow Globe

By |February 8th, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

As I often travel during the colder, wetter, and snowier months, snow globes make a great souvenir for me to capture the memory of my travel experiences. It was New Year’s Day 2006 and I was standing under the awning of a small little shop right on the edge of Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. I was with my mother and we were waiting for my father and little sister to return so we could board the vaporetto back to our hotel. It was alternating between rain and snow that day, and so we ducked into the shop to

18 02, 2013

Travel Missteps: Lost in Italy

By |February 18th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

This is the view I should never have seen, but because I got lost I had a chance to see it. When you are on a strict timeline, getting lost can be a disaster. In late December of 2005 I was on a bus tour of Italy with my family. We were adamant that we were not "Bus Tour" people. We were use to doing things on our own. But we didn't speak any Italian so we decided to utilize a bus tour "but only for the transportation logistics".  So we set out to plan down our moves in each "stop" of the tour,